Review Blog

Jun 14 2016

Fizz and the dog academy rescue by Lesley Gibbes

Ill. by Stephen Michael King. Fizz series. Allen and Unwin,
2016. ISBN 9781760112844
(Age: 7+) Highly recommended. Dogs. Police. A second book in this
wonderful new series about Fizz the police dog, see the animals at
their training academy. Gibbes has fun having the dogs arrive in
vehicles which bely their size and breed. They are first checked
over by a vet and here we see that Amadeus, the burly German
Shepherd is still as dictatorial and rude as ever.
At the academy they are given tasks to achieve and as the story
proceeds, it is obvious that someone is sabotaging their efforts.
The balance bean collapses, trapping Apollo beneath it and he must
go to the clinic for help. But the teeth marks on the beam seem to
impel Fizz into action as he puts all of his skills into place to
suss out the saboteur. He amasses a number of clues before he is
able to expose the problem and a funny conclusion is reached which
will surprise the reader.
Again the humour is evident as Amadeus is up to his old tricks of
belittling the other dogs, while Fizz is able to make friends with
some new faces. Kings's illustrations are a treat, giving an image
for readers to concentrate on as they read, and giving another level
of humour for children to laugh at.
These will be sought after in schools, libraries and bookshops, and
another two are available as well, Fizz and the show dog jewel
thief, and Fizz and the handbag dognapper. With short,
easy to read chapters and a contents page, these will be a hit with
new readers.
Fran Knight